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Daniel Burns
Daniel Craig Burns (born 12 January 1957) is the fifth, and current President of New Cambria. He was first elected President in 2003, and was reelected in 2009. Burns was born in Wild Harbour on Alaric Island and prior to becoming President he was a police officer, radio journalist and university professor. Background Burns was born in Wild Harbour, Alaric Island, where he spent most of his childhood. He was educated at Holy Family High School and Falkirk College (from which he graduated in 1979). He began working for the Arvant Municipal Police Department in 1977 as a dispatcher and a police cadet before becoming a sworn police officer in 1980. Burns was promoted to detective in 1984, and began taking graduate classes at the University of New Cambria the same year. In 1986, he married Lisa Lowe, a physical therapist, whom he met after being injured in the line of duty. Their marriage has produced four children, Carrie (b. 1987), Jonas (b. 1989), Asher (b. 1991) and Elle (b. 1994). Burns completed his graduate studies in 1990, and be began teaching Criminal Justice courses at Falkirk College part-time in 1992. In 1994 he stood, unsuccessfully, as an Independence Party candidate in the general election. Burns would eventually resign his membership in the Independence Party in 1996. Later in 1994, he appeared as a guest on New Cambria Radio's morning news program, and so impressed the show's presenters and directors with his quick wit, sense of humor and rhetorical style that he was asked to prepare an audition program for consideration. The program dealt largely with issues pertaining to criminal justice and its role in New Cambria's rapidly changing society. For the first time, youth gangs and drug use were becoming visible parts of daily life all over the country. Burns invited politicians, clergy, entrepreneurs and listeners to air their concerns about social issues on the condition that they also put forth suggestions to solve them. This format proved highly popular with radio executives and listeners alike, and Perspectives with Daniel Burns enjoyed a successful five-year run on NCR. In 1999, Burns accepted a full-time position as a professor of Criminal Justice at the University of New Cambria, where his emphasis in both teaching and research was victimology. In 2001, he was invited to address Parliament to discuss the police and court's handling of rape cases in New Cambria following the publication of a paper he wrote on that topic. Presidency :See Article: New Cambria presidential election, 2003 In 2003, he was mentioned as a possibility for the Independence Party's presidential candidate nominee, despite not having been a registered member of that party for seven years. Ultimately, the Independence Party selected Rob Laumier as their nominee, but several other Members of Parliament saw Burns as popular and experienced enough to be an independent candidate. He failed to receive the required minimum of twenty nominations from Members of Parliament, but succeeded in receiving the required minimum of 15,000 nominations from registered voters, giving him the right to stand for election. His opponents in the 2003 presidential election were Rob Laumier of the Independence Party Micah Everett from the Social Democrat Party and two independents: Emily Reede and John Stern. Burns won the election with 45.2% of the first preference votes. In the second and final count against Everett, he won 58.7% of preferences. On 1 May 2003, he was inaugurated as the fifth President of New Cambria. It was the first time in the country's history that the winning candidate was nominated by the people rather than Members of Parliament. As President, Burns used his experience and research in law enforcement to raise awareness for victims' rights, and was an integral player in the ratification of the Protection of Victims Act 2004. Other issues Burns focused on during his first term included immigration, youth gangs and drug abuse, the promotion of locally produced films and television, and the rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities. During his candidacy, Burns hired a French-language tutor, and gave several campaign speeches either wholly or partly in French. After he was elected, he made both French- and Keva-language fluency a priority. In 2007, after hosting a reception for an organization ex-Yugoslav immigrants, Burns began learning Bosnian. Reelection :See Article: New Cambria presidential election, 2009 Burns' initial six-year term as President was set to expire on 1 May 2009, and according to the constitution in effect at the time, a new election must be held between 1 April and 30 June. A sitting or former president who has only served one term has the power to nominate him- or herself for reelection at any time, a right Burns exercised. As the pre-arranged election date neared, no other candidate was nominated, and Burns was deemed reelected without a ballot. Category:New Cambria Category:Individuals